The Seven
by Crazy Amazing
Summary: Follow seven girls through a day in their lives as they combat the seven deadly sins. One sin for each girl. Heavy T for suggestive themes in the first chapter, but no explicit scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This is the most...suggestive chapter I've ever written. The other chapters in this sequence aren't this bad, trust me :)  
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"_Lust__** or **__**lechery**__** is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature."**_

A bare arm was wrapped around my exposed stomach protectively. That was usual. I'd kicked the duvet off my body whilst I was asleep so I knew I was naked from the word go – also usual. Someone was spooned against me: presumably the person I had slept with. Gently, so as not to wake the person next to me, I rolled over to look at their face. Light brown hair, thick eyebrows, strong nose. They were weirdly familiar. Having just woken up, my brain was a little slow and as a result it took me a while to remember how I knew this person. They were rather good looking although appeared a little older than what I usually go for. When it finally sunk in who this man was, I sat up straight in shock. _Crap. _Ed woke up and looked at me, all bleary eyed. The realization also hit him after a few tense moments.

"Crap," he mumbled, biting his lip and rubbing his eyes. "Lucy, don't tell me last night we..." I nodded my head slowly. I remembered everything that had happened last night. Ed had been drunk after a work-related party and I was the only one home since Mum was away on a business trip and my sister was at a sleepover. Ed had acted silly at first, stumbling over nonsensical words and throwing himself around like an oaf but then he became sweet and started saying how beautiful I was. I remember him saying something along the lines of 'from the moment we were introduced, he knew he had to have me even though I was only thirteen at the time'. I couldn't resist, even if I had wanted to. And now I had slept with my mum's boyfriend.

True, Ed was closer to my age than he was Mum's but I didn't think that would do anything to calm her down once she found out. Oh no, she was going to have such a fit. Ed would probably get thrown out of the house and she'd most likely refuse to speak to me for months. It would be simply terribl– hold on. A sudden thought came to my mind.

"Mum doesn't have to know," I whispered in Ed's ear. "This can be our little secret." Ed nodded dumbly. Yeah he wasn't the bright bulb but damn he was cute. I couldn't help but kiss him and giggled when he tried to push me away.

"It's a bit late to watch your distance, don't you think?" I said smartly. Ed didn't say anything when I continued my kiss but he didn't try and stop me either. I ran a hand over his toned chest, feeling the hair. I didn't much like guys with hairy chests but Ed didn't have to know that. I was so good at keeping secrets after 16 years of living that it was unbelievable. I'm sure not even a lie detector would know if I was telling the truth or not, I was that skilled. If there were awards for lying then I'd win every time, hands down.

Ed and I got out of my bed after I was satisfied with the level of intimacy we reached before having breakfast and Ed headed straight for the shower. I on the other hand made a beeline for my phone and saw three text messages from my boyfriend Nathan, all sent in the last twenty minutes. '_I'm awake, are u? x'_, '_Txt me when u wake up babes x_' and '_Oi, get out of bed u slag lol jk, luv u really xxxxx_'. I laughed to myself: Nathan was a total hottie but way too clingy. Looking at my clock I saw that it was gone eleven. I waited until after I had eaten breakfast, brushed my teeth, washed, changed my clothes and done my hair until texting back.

'_Awake now :P_'. Nathan texted me back almost instantly, asking if I wanted to go to his house as his parents would be out until nine that evening. I told him to expect me to arrive around three because I was meeting the girls later and then promptly called another boy – Josh – and asked if he was up for a little 'house call'. Nathan was great and everything but Josh and I had been 'special friends' for so long that it's become impossible to stop now, even though we were both in a relationship. Anyway, what Nathan didn't know couldn't hurt him.

I would have started our little session the moment I saw Josh on his scooter outside my house but I couldn't risk letting anyone catch me with Josh and reporting back to Nathan. I didn't want to break his heart. I stuffed my curly red hair into Josh's spare helmet – safety first has ALWAYS been my policy – and off we went, speeding all the way to his flat. To keep Josh interested and focused on the task we were soon about to undertake, I wrapped my arms around his waist and let my hands dangle in front of his jeans, casually playing with the material. Josh didn't do anything to acknowledge this and it was probably just as well or we'd have crashed.

Fortunately, we made it to Josh's flat in one piece and rushed up the stairs, too excited to wait for the lift. Josh hurried to let us in, his hands shaking with the keys as he was so anxious to get inside. I laughed at his klutziness and helped him by holding his hand steady for him. He turned and grabbed my head, pulling me in for a passionate kiss that I was more than ready for. I tugged on his shaggy black hair. His hands roamed all over me and I moaned. This was so good – and we hadn't even made it inside yet!

"Lucy?" A voice called my name in disbelief. Josh and I froze. I knew that voice all too well. There was no mistaking a voice that wonderfully deep and sweet. Slowly I turned to face Nathan.

"Hello," I said meekly, my heart sinking. His mouth was gaping open as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His green eyes flickered from me to Josh and back again. A quick glance at Josh told me he was as pale as a sheet. Nathan managed to get control of his mouth and now he just looked confused. I cleared my throat and tried to make the best of the situation.

"Do you want to join us?" I asked cheerfully.

"Join you?" Nathan looked disgusted. He swore, spitting the word out like he was glad to get it out of his mouth. In his eyes I could see the hurt and it made me feel bad for him. I had never wanted to make him feel like this. I took a step towards him and Nathan shook his head, backing away. He turned and ran away from me. A prickly sensation started up in the back of my eyes and I had an urge to sniff. I don't know why, since I only ever liked Nathan for his appearance – at least, that's what I told myself. He and I had been going out for three months; my longest relationship. I had always thought there was something special about Nathan although I never bothered to think about it. I guess there would be no point now.

I always ended up ruining my relationships by cheating on the boys with – anyone who was available actually. I didn't see it as a problem but I sometimes wondered why I was so unfaithful. Sometimes I thought I had the perfect boyfriend and then blew it with my lustful ways – as was the case with Nathan.

A heavy arm on my shoulder alerted me that Josh was over whatever it was he had been on in the first place.

"Plenty more where he came from," Josh said. I agreed at once, sniffing. Josh firmly led me into his flat where we could continue with our earlier plans. Hopefully it would make me forget about what I had done to Nathan, at least for a while. Besides, he had been clingy.


	2. Chapter 2

"_**Derived from the Latin **__**gluttire**__**, meaning to gulp down or swallow, **__gluttony__** is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste."**_

I hadn't wanted to go to Claire Benton's birthday party. For one thing it was going to be held at a swimming pool and for obvious reasons I hate wearing my swimming costume in front of people, animals and even plants. I just look so round and _chunky_ in it – it does nothing for me at all. All my wobbly bits hang out and look even more repulsive. It's definitely _not_ attractive. For another thing, Claire and I aren't friends any more, not after we had that argument in the canteen about the way she was talking about one of my friends in the year above. It was because she was fairly new to England, I think, and still had a very strong accent from her home country that Claire to a dislike to the poor girl. I was probably a bit too fierce in my defence but Claire needed to know that no-one talks that way about anyone I like. That had been two weeks ago.

I hadn't told my mum and I guess Claire didn't tell hers because they had seen it as a given that I was invited to Claire's party: we had been best friends since we were seven. How were they to know that nearly eight years later Claire and I would no longer be on speaking terms?

As Claire and I were 'such good pals', it had been arranged by our mums that I would stay the night at Claire's house instead of arriving at 6am like the rest of the girls (the leisure centre Claire wanted to spend her day at was a good two hour drive away from where she lived). In front of her parents, Claire and I pretended like there was nothing wrong between us. It wasn't hard since we had had such good practise at actually liking each other that everything just came naturally. We dropped the pretence once we were alone in Claire's room.

"God Gloria, why couldn't you just say you were ill or something?" Claire said with such venom that it practically stung. I shrugged my shoulders and rolled over in my sleeping bag so that I didn't have to look at her hateful glare, softly stroking my bloated stomach comfortingly.

I feel asleep soon after, but woke in the middle of the night. I adjusted my eyes to the dim lighting and saw that Claire was out cold, sleeping heavily in her comfortable bed. The tight confinement of my sleeping bag made me unusually hot and my long ginger hair was sticking to the back of my neck. Frustrated, I wriggled out of the bag and found myself face to face with my overnight bag. As luck would have it, I remembered packing some snacks for the journey. I was slightly peckish just then so I decided to have a little nibble of one of the chocolate bars Mum had provided for me.

Fifteen minutes and some deliberating later, I had not only polished off my chocolate bar but also two packets of crisp, a brownie, three big cookies, a jumbo pack of marshmallows and – to be healthy – a carrot stick. Feeling strangely optimistic, I returned to my sleeping bag and didn't wake up until a few hours later when Claire's alarm went off. My eyes snapped open just in time to witness Claire getting out of bed, her short pyjamas showing off her long legs and slender arms. I felt suddenly whale-like in comparison. Claire smiled at me and for a moment I was stunned. She looked just like the old Claire: the superficial, painfully loud but sometimes funny and ever loyal friend I loved to call my own.

"Oh come on, Glor. I can't stay mad at you on my birthday! Let's just forget the stupid fight and make up, yeah?" I grinned back at her.

"Happy birthday!" I said cheerfully. We went down to breakfast in good spirits and while Claire ripped open the presents her parents had bought her, I tucked in to a generous breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, beans, three slices of toast and a glass of OJ. Then some of our other friends from school arrived along with a few of Claire's friends from her dance class: Mariah, Bella, Suzanne, Sharon, Karla, Ally, and Francesca. Once Claire and I were ready to go, the driving arrangements had to be made. As it turned out, I ended up in Claire's dad's car with the three girls I didn't really know: Karla, Ally and Francesca. I didn't like Claire's dad all that much as his way of communicating with me is to comment on my 'ever-growing' size. Not nice. The two hour journey didn't look like it was going to be much fun at first.

Francesca was quite a big girl too so I made a point of sitting next to her in the car and acting chummy with her. I found out quite a bit about her: she was of Spanish heritage, lived on the east side of town, had a boyfriend called Finley, her best friend was the daughter of the famous former model Mandy Miller and she was only in the dance class because her aunt ran it.

I decided I liked Francesca, especially when Karla and Ally sniggered not-so-discreetly when I discovered that my swimming costume had a massive hole in it. Francesca gave them a frosty look and told me gently that they sold costumes at the front of the building. By that time, the laughter had spread to my other friends – even Claire was laughing! It was bad enough but when I caught Claire's mum trying to hide her grin I felt really embarrassed. As I walked out of the changing room I heard Ally say to Karla:

"It's not really surprising that it ripped though. Just look at the **size** of her!" They both broke out into fresh peals of laughter and my face flamed red with the humiliation of it all. They were such cows. I stormed out and started to run down the hallway, ignoring the sign that clearly told me there was to be 'No Running in the Hallway'. Hot tears splashed against my cheeks and to add insult to injury, I lost my breath quickly and had to take a break from my sprint not ten metres away from the leisure centre.

I hated everyone in there. They were so horrible to me – except Francesca. But since everyone else was laughing at me, she would more than likely join in with them. Well she could laugh all she wanted, and so could they! I didn't care. Furiously I wiped the tears from my face and looked around, ready to glare at the first person who asked me if I was okay. I didn't need them. I didn't need anyone. All I needed was...

My eye caught the pleasant sight of a large and well-stocked bakery across the street. I had enough money to buy a decent-sized family meal because I was supposed to give it to Claire as a birthday present. Stuff her – no, scratch that. Stuff me! I went over to the bakery and spent every last penny on wonderful cakes and pastries that served only to cheer me up. A slice of cheesecake, two sausage rolls, one chicken patty, a smarties cup cake, six cookies, a piece of chocolate flake cake, a large beef pasty – I scoffed the lot, not bothered about pacing myself. Everything just tasted so nice and the more I ate, the happier I felt. I barely gave myself time to chew, let alone swallow.

It isn't surprising then that I felt immensely sick afterwards, and had to rush to the toilets where I threw it all up, nearly missing the bowl. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to eat so much all in one go.


	3. Chapter 3

"_**As a secular psychological concept, **__greed__** is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one need or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth."**_

"Daaaaaddiiiiiiieeeee," I said in my sweetest little girl voice. Daddy looked up from the paper he was reading, as did Annie, his wife. As step-mothers went, Annie was okay. She was pretty with long black hair (dyed), bright blue eyes and a Disney-style smile. She knew how to shop online, which was a quality I regarded extremely high. My real mum died when I was quite young so I hadn't known her that well. Daddy was forever trying to find a replacement, for his sake or mine, I didn't know. Most of the time, he got some lovely women to be his other half, other times he didn't.

Daddy's face told me that he knew what was going to come next. In the sixteen years that Daddy has known me, I'm not surprised he knows. I'd be worried if he didn't!

"Can I please have–"

"Some money?" finished Daddy. I beamed at him, showing off my pearly white teeth. It had been approximately fifteen hours, thirteen minutes and oooh about forty six seconds since I last bought something (online doesn't count in my eyes). I twisted a strand of my long blonde hair around my finger. Daddy sighed and looked at Annie for help. She gave me an apologetic look – clearly they had been discussing my spending again and she had drawn the short straw. Now she was going to break the bad news to me.

"Gretchen, your father and I have been talking and we think you have a problem." I rolled my eyes. Not this old line!

"Don't roll your eyes at Annie: she's only telling you the truth," Daddy defended his wife. I pouted.

"But Daaaddiiiiiieeeee! I just want to go shopping so I can buy you and Annie a wedding present!" I said inventively, hoping the promise of a gift would soften them up. Daddy looked dumbfounded whilst Annie appeared to be amused.

"Annie and I got married over five years ago, hun," said Daddy gently. _Oh_. Time flies so quickly when you spend a lot of time shopping! I spun them some line about how bad I felt that I hadn't bought them something when they did get married and I could see them weakening. Encouraged by this I carried on until I was praising them for raising such a difficult child under unfortunate circumstances. Not that I understood how I was difficult or what circumstances they thought were unfortunate. Nevertheless it did the trick and Daddy handed over a wad of cash. I accepted it readily and waited until I was on my way to the shopping centre before hugging it and breathing in the musty smell of the printed paper. I just adored the smell and feel of money. I loved it and was always happiest with some in my hands – the more the merrier.

Upon entering the shopping centre, a very precious item caught my eye in the first shop to my left. It was gold; it was shiny; it was a blender. I squealed at my find and rushed inside. I had to have it. I felt a rush of adrenaline and my good mood soared to a great one. No sooner than I had the cool plastic in my hands did another object stand out to me. On the other side of the shop stood a large green plant that came up to my waist when standing on the floor. I wanted that too. As much as I felt the urge to stay and buy some more things in the miniature _Homebase_, I knew other shops were awaiting my arrival and I eagerly anticipated the moment I would enter them.

I felt a little sad as I handed the money over to the cashier in order to pay for my purchases. It was always sad to see some of my money go to someone else, who clearly didn't deserve to touch it. At least my babies were tucked away with friends and family after being handled by the unworthy cashier.

I skipped merrily out of _Homebase_ and was faced with the wonderfully glorious _Accessorize_. I was in there like a flash and had several items in one hand within minutes. It would have been both hands but my other one was struggling with my new blender and plant. At least the clips, gloves, earrings, and shoelaces were only small items.

A reasonable thought came through my mind without warning: why did I need shoelaces when all my shoes were either flats or heels. The thought left my mind as quickly as it had come and I looked down at my purchases. Seeing everything in my bags gave me a slight thrill when I thought that they belonged to me. I had bought them with my money. I was so lucky – but I needed to buy more. It was never enough to just buy a few things and then go home. Having change was a crime in my eyes, and that was why Daddy didn't like to give me money. He liked change.

I wandered into the next shop, which happened to be one of my favourite types: a clothes shop. In my anticipation to buy something – anything! – I took my roll of money out before I'd even seen anything I wanted. Fanning myself with it casually, I scanned the wide room on the hunt for something that caught my eye.

A sharp object to my back, a man's arm through mine and a deep voice in my ear telling me to stay calm – or else. My throat dried considerably and I was too paralysed to do anything but allow myself to be led away from the shop and out of the shopping centre. I wanted to look my kidnapper in the eye so I could identify him for later purposes but my body seemed incapable of doing anything that I wanted. He forcibly marched me down the street and into an alleyway. There was a gang of boys in there and they greeted my kidnapper like an old friend. He probably was one.

"Hey, that's the chick with more money than sense!" one of them exclaimed in surprise. They'd obviously been watching me for some time.

I frowned at him, not particularly liking his description of me. The others laughed and my kidnapper pushed me towards the group. They were on me like flies on honey, grabbing and snatching at my wonderful purchases. I screamed and tried to stop them, not caring that they might have weapons that could actually hurt me. There was no way I was going to let them take my stuff without a fight. It was **my** stuff. I fought the best I could, swinging fists and kicking out. I managed to kick two of them and punch a third on his arm, for what little good it did. The odds were six against one. I had no chance.

They held my arms tight and pushed me to the floor where I hurt my back and banged my head. Even then I fought to keep my money. I urged myself to keep fighting until the very end. I wouldn't – couldn't – just let them take what was mine so easily. That was the whole point of it being mine!

In next to no time at all I was alone in the alleyway with no shopping bags and no money. I felt so lost and alone. It was like they had ripped my heart straight out of my chest. I curled up on the floor, tears running down my cheeks pathetically. I was bruised and battered, without even a mobile phone to call someone.

I lifted a shaky hand to my face: it was covered in blood and dirt and a lot of the skin had been ripped off in my struggle to keep ownership over my money. It was disgusting. When had I become so dependant on money and material things?


	4. Chapter 4

"_Sloth__** is defined as spiritual or emotional apathy, neglecting what authoritative people have said, and being physically and emotionally inactive."**_

I loved the feeling of the soft blanket around my body. It made me feel so warm and safe. I almost never wanted to leave my bed – some days I do not bother and just stayed there until the next one came. Being a foreigner in the wonderful country of England was hard at first because there were some people who do not like me just because I was not English. I had no energy to deal with them myself; like most things I just let it happen. I just take an interest in things that I absolutely must – and even then it is a struggle.

However, I made friends quickly with six other girls in my class and although they are slightly different than I'm used to, I feel like 'one of the gang.' I think they like me but they want me to spend more time with them. They say I'm not active enough, and that I should go to more places. I think they are only too English. Mom tells me the same thing, so I'm not sure my friends are talking out of the reason. It's strange because I have always preferred to do nothing the whole day and sleep rather than go out – even to a place I really like. I just do not seem to have energy to do things.

"Constantine! Time to wake up," says Mom, pulling the covers away from me. I hate my name. I did not use to back in Curdovia but here in England everyone's name is so simple. My last name sounds so foreign to the register next to the 'Jenson' and 'Krill'. Constantine Koslushonen. A couple of my classmates had giggled when they heard my name first, but after I made friends, they gave me the nickname 'Slush'. I liked it much better than Constantine and then everyone in school started calling me Slush. My family still call me by my real name though.

I ignored my mother and tried to go back to sleep. She did not have any of it and shook me until I was forced to open my eyes. I looked at her for a good three minutes before rubbing in my face and yawned.

"Mmm, what time is it?" I asked sleepily. I was not surprised to hear that it was in the afternoon: I often slept late into the day. Mom did not look happy with me at all and gave me a list of chores to do, warning me that if I did not do it when she came back from shopping I would be in big trouble. Then she was gone and I was all alone in the apartment. Dad went to work ridiculously early in the morning and I had no siblings so it was just me. I thought about going back to bed, but I did not think my mother would be glad for it so instead I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast – well, lunch. I took my time to eat, enjoying every mouthful before brushing my teeth. I did not bother to get changed out of my pyjamas to get started on the chores. I did not see the point.

As I struggled to drag the vacuum out of the closet, I heard the unmistakable sound of my mobile phone ring. The song was number one in Curdovia and reminded me of home, which saddened me. That's when I realized that I had to find my phone before it rang out. I left the vacuum cleaner and followed the sound of music until I discovered my phone in between the cushions on the sofa. I picked it up and responded quickly.

"Hello?"

"About time! I've been calling you for ages, Slush! Did you just get up?" It was one of my friends from school. She was probably even my best friend. I apologized profusely and asked her if everything was in order. She sighed.

"No, actually." Her voice was sad. "My boyfriend broke up with me and I feel just awful." I said nothing as she ranted on about her boyfriend and how he does not understand her. I sat on the couch and relaxed; just let my friend spill her feelings to me. She went on about what had happened: she had been angry about something else and said mean things to him which got on his nerves, so he dumped her. It was not very nice of him. I let my friend talk to me for ages; she did not even notice that I hardly spoke. Most I added to the conversation was 'oh really' and 'go on'. I just could not seem to get into the conversation emotionally; I felt that I was not really a part of it. My friend were not deterred and continued to spill her heart out, regardless of my poor response. I guess that she probably felt good to get things off her chest and I did not interrupt her, she was able to talk as much as she wanted. It was the most likely cause of we were such good friends. She loved to talk and I listened to everything.

"Do you think...Do you think he'll want me back? I really do love him." Her voice was smaller now and I could imagine her looking worried.

"Do not be afraid. He will take you back because he loves you!" I said. I did not say that it would be nice; I said it because it was the truth. My friend breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Slush. Are you still coming later?" I confirmed that I was and we said our goodbye. I checked the clock and found that I had two hours before I had to meet up with everyone else. I found out that it left just enough time for me to squeeze in a short nap, and got comfortable on the couch.

I woke up to a woman shouting at me. It was my mother. With a start I realized that she had asked me to do chores today and I had done none of them. I felt incredibly guilty and hung my head in shame when she yelled at me for always being so disobedient. I tried to tell her about my friend is upset and how I felt so tired but Mom did not hear a word I had to say: I was a shame in her eyes. She threatened to send me back to Curdovia! I told her not to, I loved England and it was too early for me to leave. When Mom told me that I was on the grounded for one week I had to convince her to at least allow me to leave the house today to see my friends. I think Mom just let me go because I told her it was an English tradition – Mom loved English traditions.

After a while, my mom calmed down and confessed that she had wondered if I had a mild case of chronic fatigue syndrome, as one of our neighbours (who was a doctor) had suggested a couple of days ago. I agreed to see our GP later this week with her to find out if I really had the illness, but I did not care anyway. If I did then I'd probably be given some pills that made me stop being so tired and if I do not then I would have to continue as normal. It was not something to be excited about. Moreover, it was down to how I felt on the day the appointment and I had a feeling I'll be much happier in bed. Why should I bother to leave the house when I could sleep?

My mother warned me that if I did not hurry then I would not be ready in time to meet my friends. I knew that I should be rushing to get changed, but I had no energy so I settled to go to my normal pace. It was a shame that my normal speed was a normal person's slow pace. Ah well, my friends knew how I was and will excuse my lateness. It was not that big of a deal.


	5. Chapter 5

"_Wrath__**, also known as **__**anger**__** or "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger."**_

'_Wren, I love you _xx'. My face split into the biggest smile when I read Nickel's text. We had been going out for about a month now and this was the first time he said he loved me. Well, written. Waking up to such an uplifting text was the perfect way to start my morning. I texted Nickel back: _'Same 2 u :)'_. I'm not the kind of girl who puts kisses at the end of their texts. Actually, I'm not the kind of girl who acts much like a girl. I play football, I never wear skirts, I know a 'tough' crowd from outside school, I don't squeal or giggle and I pick fights with guys. It drives my mum crazy: after having my older brothers as triplets she was grateful to have me, a girl. It was just a shame I turned out like a boy on the inside.

I sat up and combed my hands through my hair. It wasn't very thick or very long so it was pretty easy to do. I was a natural brunette but dyed my hair strawberry blonde last month, and now the roots are growing back brown. I don't mind it but my mum thinks it looks awful and keeps begging me to dye it. This tends to spark arguments between us so we're fighting more than usual right now.

Without warning my bedroom door burst open and in came three lanky triplets in their pyjamas. Wade was on Winston's back, screaming like a maniac and Wright was pleading for them to stop fighting. It was kind of hard to tell them apart when they moved around as much as they were but as their sister I was able to distinguish the little details that set them apart. For example, Wright was the only one whose brown hair wasn't shaggy; he preferred to have what he called a 'smart-guy hair cut' – which if I was honest looked like any other hair cut. Wade and Winston were the hardest to figure out, unless you knew them really well. In this instance, I knew it was Wade on Winston's back because Winston loved to wind him up until Wade snapped and went after him. Plus Winston screams like a girl.

I didn't mind them fighting in my room because it happened so often that I was now used to it – however I _did_ mind when Winston tripped and decided to break his fall by using me as a pillow. That wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't bring Wade down with him and Wade grabbed on to Wright for help which made Wright fall on top of me too.

"You're DEAD!" I hollered. My brothers scrambled off me, took one look at my furious expression and gulped simultaneously. They knew I could take them down: I've had years of practise. They raced out of my bedroom with me hot on their trail. Unfortunately they split up into different parts of our house so I could only really focus on catching one at a time. Luckily for me I was faster than Winston so I went for him – it was his fault, after all. I rugby-tackled him to the floor and punched his stomach, winding him. I sat on top of him and grabbed the front of his pyjama top, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry okay?" he whimpered. My eyes narrowed. It wasn't good enough. He needed to suffer like I had suffered, which meant that I had to beat him up some more.

"Wren, what are you doing?" I looked up to see my mum standing with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Wade and Wright were cowering behind her. I felt my anger increase as Mum continued to look down at me. If it were Wright or Wade on Winston now, she wouldn't even batter an eyelid. It was all because I was a girl; she expected me to act the way she deemed 'appropriate'.

"Get off your brother this instant," Mum commanded. I shot her an icy look.

"As you wish, Hitler," I said sarcastically, shoving Winston in the chest for good measure.

"Wren!" exclaimed Mum. I ignored her and went back into my bedroom where I changed my clothes and after quickly brushing my teeth, stormed out of my house. I was so angry with everyone at home that I just couldn't stand being in there. I prowled the streets angrily with my head down and my hands in my pocket. A vibration in my jeans signalled that I had just received a new text and when I looked at my phone I saw that it was from Nickel.

'_Got any plans for today? X'_ I rolled my eyes and shoved my phone back in my pocket. What was wrong with him? We didn't have to spend every day together – he was so annoying sometimes. I could feel the rage at everyone and everything boiling inside of me, just like it did every time I got angry. Slayers' _I Hate You_ blared out of my tinny mobile and feeling generally peed off, I answered it rather snappily.

"What?"

"Someone's obviously annoyed you. What happened?" Nickel's calm voice emitted from my phone. It wasn't that he was the last person I wanted to speak to: I just didn't want to speak to anyone just then, and told him so using very colourful words.

"You always do this to me. You shut me out whenever you're upset like I'm nothing to you. I'm your boyfriend dammit!" he whined. He was such a girl! Nickel needed to man up if he thought he was going to continue being my boyfriend.

"Nickel, I'm not in the mood for this. Just leave me alone for about an hour, alright?" I tried to reason with him.

"No, it's not alright!" he fumed. "God Wren, you don't know how hard you make it for me to actually love you! I have no idea if you even feel the same for me." There was silence between us then. I was surprised that Nickel had spoken out; he was usually so complacent that it was sickening. I guess he was finally stepping up. The other part of the reason why I didn't say anything was because my anger hadn't yet died away. Nickel exhaled heavily into his phone.

"Well, do you?"

"Do I what?" I yelled.

"Do you love me?" I couldn't believe he had asked me such a stupid question. The answer was so blatant. Did he really not think I did? I wouldn't be with him if I didn't. Nickel was just being stupidly insecure like the stupid baby girl he was. His stupid question made me even angrier and I barely thought before I spoke back to him.

"Are you serious? Argh, Nickel what the hell is wrong with you?" There was a pause long enough for a heart beat. Then,

"I don't think this is working out, Wren." Before I could even ask him what he was talking about, Nickel hung up on me. My mouth dropped open at his rudeness, rather than his words. It took me about ten seconds to fully understand what his final words meant. He had just broken up with me, just like that. Even though he loves me and I love him. My grip on my phone tightened until it began to hurt. I hated him. I hated him, my mum, my brothers – everyone. I threw my phone against the nearest wall and when it made contact I heard a distinctive 'crack'. I kicked it and stamped on it and then picked it up before slamming it on the pavement again and again and again.

When I lifted my arm to smash it for the umpteenth time, I caught the sight of my reflection in a nearby shop window. I looked like a maniac. My eyes were wild; my hair a mess and worst of all my hands were all messed up from being knocked onto the concrete so many times. I'd become a monster.


	6. Chapter 6

"_**Those who commit the sin of **__envy__** resent that another person has something they perceive themselves as lacking, and wish the other person to be deprived of it."**_

Enid was such a horrible name. It suited an old lady better than it suited a sixteen year old girl. I don't know why my mum chose it for me – probably so I could be humiliated and bullied in school. It wasn't like I could ask her, since she cleared off a good seven years ago. No boy ever wanted to go out with a girl whose name was as old as the dinosaurs. My best friend Lucy was so lucky: her name was adorable, her parents were still happily married and she happened to be going out with a boy who was respectful to and cared about her. She wasn't even a nice person most of the time! Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. Lucy was great – to me, anyway.

She was a bit of a flirt, if I was being honest. Then again at least she could get away with it. Lucy looked like a doll. Me? I looked like a doll too – a troll doll. My face was too long, my skin too pale, my eyes too dull. Lucy was a dream whereas I was a nightmare. I could barely stand to look myself in the mirror; it's no wonder I've never had a boyfriend. My life was pathetic.

"Enid, do you want to see something cool?" my seven year old brother, Howie, asked, coming into my room. Even Howie's life was better than mine! Okay, he had been lumped with the name 'Howard' but at least it could be shortened to Howie. Enid couldn't be shortened to anything that was cute or even remotely nice to say. Another thing, Howie was Dad's favourite. Dad did his best to make sure Howie was in good spirits and had everything he could possibly want. I suppose it's like a consolation prize for having Mum leave when he wasn't even six months old, but seriously. Dad had two children and he would do well to remember that. Especially when he bought Howie things like roller blades (something I actually wanted at the time) when Howie didn't even show an interest in anything like that. He preferred to look at bugs – Howie's words, not mine.

"Oh, go on then," I said, giving in to Howie. Another reason why he was so much better than me was that even looked lovable: his skin considerably more tan than my own and his dark hair framing his round baby face in a way that made him look positively angelic. His face lit up and he tugged on my hand, leading him into his room. I had to step over his ant farm and _Exploration of the Universe_ book to get in, which wasn't easy. I don't know how Howie did it. Anyway, what he wanted to show me was outside his bedroom window. Howie motioned for me to follow him and we went over to it.

Turns out Howie had placed a can of tuna on the edge of the window outside and now there were about nine cats in our front garden, trying to get to the tuna by jumping up on the side of the house. It was amazing how such a simple thing could entertain Howie so well. I pretended to be interested and left the way I came, secretly a little jealous of Howie. His life was so easy that something a few cats did was so hilarious. It must feel so good to live like that.

Dad called me downstairs and told me that as he was super busy and regarded me as his own personal slave, I had to take our dog Cartwheel for a walk. Okay, perhaps I exaggerated about being his slave, but Dad could have easily taken Cartwheel for a walk later on in the day. It was barely the afternoon for crying out loud! Still, as much as I didn't want to I knew I had to do it. As the second favourite, it was my job to do whatever was asked of me. None of my other friends had to do things they didn't want. It was all down to the unluckiness of being born as me.

Cartwheel was only a small brown and white Beagle so he wasn't much of a handful to walk. He wasn't half excitable though: stopping at every little thing out of the ordinary to have a good sniff and mark his territory. His brown nose went everywhere and it got on my nerves, especially when we ran into this boy from school. Running into a boy from school might not be so bad if it wasn't Tyson.

Tyson and I go way back. We went to the same primary school and for ages there was a haunting rumour going around that he liked me. He always denied it so convincingly that I had no reason to believe such gossip. Then when we entered secondary school, I started liking him and it was so scary to be around him that I simply ignored him completely. A couple of years back, Tyson became one of those 'scene kids' who kept himself to himself most of the time and we just sort of...drifted.

Being a dog, Cartwheel had no idea that Tyson and I had such an awkward history and so he wasn't really to blame for wandering over to Tyson's dog and deciding that it was the perfect time to make friends with his white Shih-Poo. We looked on in embarrassment as they sniffed butts and the like. I noticed that Tyson had dyed parts of his black hair blonde; it looked quite nice. I suddenly realised that I still liked him and cursed my feelings. If I'd been Lucy now, flirting would come naturally and Tyson would be my boyfriend after five minutes. I wished that was the case so badly.

"Do you know how much polar bears weigh?" Tyson asked me unexpectedly. I looked at him blankly so he repeated the question. I shrugged, too tongue-tied to speak up. If I were _Lucy_ now...

"Me either," Tyson admitted. "But it broke the ice." I laughed at his crap joke, as did he. We talked dogs for a while and I found out that his was a girl called Cindy (his mum's choice) and he'd had her for around a year. Tyson didn't usually walk her but his mum had a cold, his dad was at work and he was bored out of his mind. He kept smiling at me which made my stomach do little flips.

"Oh hey, how come you weren't at Lucy's party last weekend?" I blinked at him in surprise. When did Lucy have a party and why hadn't I been invited? I told Tyson I knew nothing about the party and he blushed. I had a feeling there was more to the story and urged him to spill.

Turns out there had been around three girls and fifteen boys at Lucy's party last weekend. Lucy had supplied them with a bountiful of alcohol and things got heavy rather quickly. Lucy snogged nearly every boy there – including Tyson. My heart shrivelled up and went cold as I took in this information. Tyson made out that it wasn't a big deal but I knew that it was. My best friend had kissed the boy I liked before I had even shaken his hand. I really disliked Lucy then: she was living the life I wanted!

I told Tyson that I'd see him at school and tugged on Cartwheel's leash to tell him it was time to go home. Tyson called after me that he hoped to see me soon and it wasn't until I was on my street that it dawned on me what that could mean. Maybe Tyson actually fancied me and thought nothing of Lucy. Maybe I'd let my jealousy of Lucy get in the way of what could have been a really romantic moment between me and Tyson, where we confessed our innermost feelings for each other and were together from that day forth.

Or maybe I was just doing a bit of wishful thinking. Honestly, who would ever choose me over Lucy who was sexy, cool and confident? A mental retard that was who.


	7. Chapter 7

"_Pride____**is identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others; failing to acknowledge the good work of others and excessive love of self."**_

I woke up at seven in the morning to start my daily routine. I tied my hair into a ponytail before scrubbing my skin with facial cleanser and smoothing on a mud mask. Then I made my way downstairs and made myself a banana and strawberry smoothie for breakfast, which I drank through a straw so as to not crack my drying mask. My elder sister Star came rushing down at quarter to eight all excited. She babbled about winning some auction on eBay that would help her campaign for the charity she was currently working with but I barely listened to her. Instead, I scrutinised her eyebrows. Ever since she had joined that charity they had been growing thicker and thicker and Star showed no signs of wanting to pluck them back into shape. It made her entire face look un-proportioned and frankly, made me sick.

"Princess? Are you even listening to me?" I blinked out of my make-over fantasy and concentrated on the present for a moment. I nodded convincingly, mumbling 'mm-hmm'. It seemed to do the trick because Star went rambling on about how good blah blah blah would be for blah blah blah. I'm sure it was riveting stuff but if I was brutally honest, all I cared about was making myself look pretty for the day so I excused myself and went upstairs to gently wash the mask off my face and exfoliate my skin. With that done I turned to moisturiser, which I delicately applied to my flawless brown skin.

Next on the agenda was choosing an outfit; a task if not done correctly could result in a whole day of looking like...well, Star nowadays. She used to be the ultimate beauty queen but ever since she took a gap year before university she's been borderline hideous. She never straightens her hair anymore so it's permanently a curly mane and she takes five minutes – sometimes less! – to get ready for the day. I suggested to our parents that they take Star to see a therapist but all they did was laugh and tell me not to be silly. They seem to think that Star is doing the world good by looking so atrocious all the time. I decided to put on something simple so went with my blue vest top, white skirt with little black hearts on it and silver sandals.

Whilst I was buckling the shoes, someone knocked on my door and asked if they could come in. Through the wood I could tell it was a woman so it was either my mum or Star. I told them they could enter and I saw that it was in fact my mum. Mum was a stunning woman: she used to be an actress when she was younger but gave it all up when she became pregnant with Star. She married our dad – who was her co-star in the last film she did – soon after Star was born and they've been happily married since. They're both really good-looking and as a result, Star and I are beautiful. Still, nothing ever happened if no-one worked for it so I made sure I looked my very best at all times.

"Hi Mum," I smiled. "What's up?" Mum walked gracefully over to me and joined me on my bed. I quickly analysed her before concluding that I looked better than her. It wasn't that Mum looked terrible: she looked good but only for a _mum_. Lately she had been putting on a bit of weight, especially around the middle and though she tried to cover it up, I could still tell it was there.

"Princess, you know your father and I love you no matter what right?" I nodded. "And that you are just as good as Star, and vice versa?" I hesitated. I knew that as our mum, she had to say that Star and I were equal but the rest of the word knew that that wasn't true. It may have been the truth a few months ago before Star let herself go but now I had the upper hand. Grimacing, I nodded along with Mum. It was then that I noticed how moist her eyes were. They looked ever so brown and I wondered how I could get mine to look as stunning as Mum's did. What could be her secret?

"The thing is darling, I'm pregnant." I froze. She was what? That was disgusting, to think that she and Dad had...Ew. And anyway, I was the baby of the family. I didn't want another one to come and spoil things for me. I couldn't compete with a baby: it went without saying that babies were instantly the family favourite, not to mention the fact that they could do no wrong. This new baby was going to steal my glory, make no mistake. Mum noticed the sour expression fixed on my face.

"Princess, what's wrong?" she asked. I couldn't tell her that I didn't want her to have a baby because even I knew I was only being selfish. The correct response would be to be happy that I was gaining a little brother or sister. Realisation that I would become the middle child hit me suddenly. The middle child was nothing special; the one who was forever forgotten about and overlooked. I could see it now: Mum and Dad would be cooing over the baby and praising Star for whatever nonsense she was doing and glaze over anything I did, good or bad. My life was ruined.

"Do you have to have another baby? Can't you just be happy with me and Star?" I blurted out. Mum looked at me for a moment before laughing, pushing my shoulder playfully.

"Oh Princess, you aren't jealous are you?" I glared at her. No way was I jealous, just a little worried about where I stood on the importance scale. Mum hugged me quickly.

"Like I said, we love you no matter what. It's not like we'll forget about you once she's born!" I narrowed my eyes. So it was a girl, huh. She was even more likely to steal my spotlight then. I didn't like this one bit. Mum soon realised that I wasn't laughing with her and it dawned on her that I was genuinely upset about this. She sighed and that was when Star came into my room.

"How did I know it was going to go something like this?" she said rhetorically. I stuck my tongue at her childishly but Star only ignored me, instead assuring Mum that she would convince me to be happy about the birth of Angel. Her name came close to beating mine, too. After briefly thanking Star, Mum exited my room and shut the door behind her. I jumped up and moved over to my dressing table so I could re-straighten my hair. Star followed me.

"What are you so annoyed about?" she asked. I told her everything, how I was the queen bee and couldn't bear to have a little baby 'Angel' snatch it all away from me when I was barely in my prime. Star listened with sincere interest and when I was finally finished she put a hand on my shoulder.

"Princess, I know how you feel. I felt the exact same way when Mum and Dad told me they were expecting you." I started in surprise.

"You did?" I asked with wide eyes. Star nodded.

"Of course I did. I know what it feels like to be the most important girl in the world – not to mention the prettiest. Before you were born I was plotting ways to make you look awful so I could look even better. But then you were born and I couldn't get over how cute you were. There was no way I could bring myself to do anything mean to you: I loved you too much. I spent all my time teaching you how to be like me and I guess I succeeded." Star gestured to me; I was still straightening my hair and eyeing at my reflection with satisfaction. I paused for a moment, mulling over everything Star had confessed. It made sense really, since everything I knew about making myself look good, I knew from her. When I thought about teaching the new baby everything I knew, it actually seemed kind of fun.

"Trust me when I tell you that you'll love Angel just as much as you love me and there will come a day when you won't regard looks as such an important thing as you do now." I was with Star up until she said that. Looks were **everything** and if she couldn't see that then she was blind.


	8. Chapter 8

"_**...And so **__the Seven__** came together in a place where the virtues they had been searching for were resting: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility."**_

Enid was the first to arrive at the café. She took her usual seat near the window so she could wait for the others to arrive and keep a look out for them at the same time. Enid impatiently tapped her nails on the table top, wishing they would all hurry up and arrive. She wanted to tell them about Tyson and how she felt so she could get their advice about what she should do. Enid spotted Gretchen before the other girl saw her and Enid was shocked to see Gretchen's hands heavily bandaged. She waved Gretchen over and she joined her at the table.

"What happened to your–"

"Later," Gretchen cut her off before she could finish the question. Enid nodded in understanding and they waited for the other girls. Lucy and Gloria arrived at the café together – which wasn't surprising, considering they were sisters. They were greeted by the other two girls already seated and though Lucy glanced at Gretchen's hands, she didn't say anything about them. She knew the other girl would explain what had happened once the rest of them got there. When Wren arrived, Lucy made sure Gloria sat in between them: she couldn't face sitting next to her, not after what she had done that day. Lucy was scared Wren would smack her in the face or something equally violent. Similarly to Gretchen, Wren had multiple plasters on her hands but as it was Wren this wasn't such a shock. She was always getting into fights.

The only two girls to arrive were Princess and Slush. Slush would be late because she never hurried to do anything and Princess because she liked to make an entrance and be fashionably late. It was close but Princess came before Slush. With everyone finally sitting around the table, they got down to business and ordered snacks and drinks. To everyone's surprise, Gloria only asked for a bottle of water. She looked up at them defiantly and declared that after the day she had, she had learned that over-eating was a terrible thing. Gloria relayed the whole story for them so they could understand what she was talking about and they were stunned to find that each of them had had something happen that day to make them realise they were living their lives in a way that was destroying them in their own way.

Slush told them that her mother thought she had an illness because she was so inactive. She had been thinking about it a lot and came to the conclusion that it wasn't accidental that she slept all the time: Slush was scared of living. She had witnessed her friends have many ups and even more downs and was too frightened to venture out her comfort zone. It made her life boring but safe but Slush knew it was time to live a little. The others congratulated her on this revelation and were glad their foreign friend would finally start to be more social.

"Lucy, why did you kiss Tyson at the party you didn't invite any of us to?" Enid confronted her bluntly. Lucy turned bright red. She apologised to her friend but told her that there was nothing to worry about since Tyson obviously had feelings for her. Enid felt stupid for letting her jealousy get in the way of how she felt earlier and promised herself and her friends that she would call him later to tell him how she truly felt; butterflies flittered in her stomach just thinking about it. This led Lucy to ashamedly confess her loose behaviour with a multiple of boys and she avoided Wren's gaze as she told her friends what had been going on behind their backs. They all gasped when she confessed what she had done with her mum's boyfriend, Ed. Lucy rushed on to the more relevant part of her life and Wren was livid.

"You've been sleeping with Nickel?" she screeched, ready to knock her friend out. Josh Nickel was his full name and Wren preferred his last name to his first as it was far less common. Gloria got in the way of Wren's attack and Enid helped her to restrain the enraged teen. At everyone's pleading, Wren slowly got control over herself and after breathing deeply, calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Wren, really I am. Josh said that it was okay as long as you didn't find out...I was stupid," Lucy said remorsefully. Wren shook her head.

"Whatever. I'm sorry I got so angry with you. It's my anger that made Nickel dump me anyway. I've been thinking about getting help, actually." The other six girls agreed at once that this was a good idea and it made Wren realise just how badly her anger had affected her friends. The waitress arrived at their table then with their orders and Enid had to help Gretchen to open her straw so she could drink her milkshake. This action caused the question of what had happened to Gretchen's hands arise and so Gretchen was forced to tell the entire frightening story.

"I was such an idiot! If I'd just let them take my things I would never have been hurt," Gretchen said tearfully. Slush put an arm around her comfortingly and Gretchen gave her a weak smile as thanks. Princess had been patiently waiting for her turn; for once she was last not because she wanted to be special but out of respect for her friends. Princess fixed her eyes on her chocolate chip muffin as the story of her day tumbled out of her mouth. The mention of a little sister reminded Lucy of her own and she risked a glance at Gloria, hoping that she wasn't disgusted by her. Gloria's smile and the way she squeezed Lucy's hand convinced Lucy that she had nothing to worry about.

"I know I'm vain but I think Angel could be good for me. Did you guys know Star is trying to build a home for Cambodian orphans? She's succeeding, too!" Princess boasted. The six girls exchanged looks.

"Princess, we've known about that for months," Gretchen admitted. "I'm going to give Star some money to help her."

"I knew about it and I have slept in a long time!" added Slush. Princess pouted at them playfully but didn't mind she was the last to know what her sister had been doing for all this time. In fact she wasn't even surprised by it. When they had finished their food and drinks, the seven girls thought it was time to say their goodbyes. There was a lot of hugging and promising to stay the improved versions of them selves before they departed. Lucy, Gloria and Wren went one way whilst Gretchen and Princess went another and Slush and Enid went a separate direction.

"I'm really sorry about Josh," Lucy apologised once more. Wren nodded mutely.

"Do you hate me?" Lucy persisted.

"Not at all; I hate _him_. He said he loved me but he can't have, not really." Gloria looked up at her sister; her very slim sister. Gloria swore that she'd become the same size as Lucy once her body felt the effects of not eating so piggishly. Gloria had been wondering something ever since she learned what Lucy was really like and she thought now was a good time as any to find out.

"Are you going to tell Mum what happened with you and Ed?" Lucy visibly paled.

"I'm going to have to, aren't I? We didn't...We didn't even use protection." Gloria and Wren saw how scared Lucy was and promised to be there for her, no matter what happened. They hugged her and tried to cheer her up as they made their way to Lucy and Gloria's house.

"Do you mean that about giving Star money?" Princess asked Gretchen as they strolled down the road. Gretchen nodded happily.

"Yup. It feels good to know I'm spending money for the sake of someone else for a change, you know?" Princess smiled.

"Yeah. I'm so proud of my sister. She's doing great things; I can't believe I didn't notice before. And now you're going to help her. That's just amazing," she said with sincerity. The two girls regarded each other with a twinkle in their eyes, noting how each had changed for the better.

"I wish I had a little brother or sister. You are so lucky to have Howie. He must make wake up in the morning worthwhile if you can play with him. I'm all alone in my apartment," Slush said. Enid realised how lucky she was. Howie in fact was an amazing little brother; one who Enid was glad was hers. She looked at Slush and grinned at her.

"Yeah, Howie's great. Why don't you come over and play with him?" she said casually. Enid had the idea that if she lent Howie to Slush as a 'little brother', Slush might be inclined to leave her house more often. Slush beamed in delight.

"Really? Do not joke with me here!" Enid laughed and vowed she wasn't joking. Overjoyed, Slush grabbed Enid into a tight embrace.

The seven girls had finally learned how to make themselves better people and were happier for it. Lucy had learned the consequences of being lustful while her sister Gloria had discovered the aftermath of being gluttonous wasn't pretty. Gretchen had found that greediness only made a person unhappy and Slush had determined that sloth-like behaviour wasn't an appealing quality in _anyone_. Wren caught on that subjecting her loved ones to her wrath only made them scared of her or pushed them away. Enid understood that envy was futile when you didn't recognise what you had and loved it and Princess had asserted that pride was a terrible thing if you had too much of it in just yourself.

But would these lessons stay with the seven girls?


End file.
